Next month, a Canadian rock star, Bryan Adams, is having his concert in Kathmandu. The concert is mainly targeted to promote the Nepal Tourism Year, 2011. Everyone, especially the youth, is waiting for February 19, the concert day. On that day, Bryan Adams will perform for two hours at Dasrath Stadium in Kathmandu. Adams is known for his husky, soulful voice and is popular for hits like ‘Everything I do; I do it for you’, ’18 till I Die’, and ‘Have Your Ever Really Loved a Woman’ among others.

Concert Background

The Bryan Adams concert is being organized by JPR Events and is supported by ODC Network. The organizers have told that Adams’ agent Roi Lamb was here to evaluate the venue for the event, the hotel where the singer will stay, and the security situation.

One of the coordinators of the event, Samden Sherpa, said, “Nepal celebrates the year 2011 as Tourism Year and Adams’ visit will highlight this in the global community. Adams is an evergreen icon and the winner of many awards and his popularity cannot just be ignored."

Samden added, "February being the month of love, let us start and celebrate the year in a positive note. Adams is also performing in India and Bangladesh as the part of the Bryan Adams Live Full Band Show World Tour." The World Tour includes four concerts in India including New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad. Nepali organizers have managed two days of his time for a tour of Nepal in an effort to support Nepal Tourism Year 2011.

The Uncontrollable Audience

An international rock star, performing live in Nepal is once in a decade event. I was feeling very much excited to attend this concert. At the same time, I was also worried because of the fates of previous concerts held in various parts of Nepal. Little bit of disturbance occurs in every concerts especially when there is a huge crowd of youths in the audience.

I still remember the concert of 1974 AD, one of the popular bands in Nepal, titled RockYatra. That concert was supposed to be the biggest concert ever held in Nepal. The ticket price of the concert was somewhere around Rs.100/200. The crowd exceeded the expectation of organizers and band members and the security personnel couldn’t control the crowd. When some of the members in the audience started throwing small bottles and small stones on the stage the band members had to leave the stage before wrapping up the concert.

In an another concert, when Sugam Pokharel performed in Biratnagar stadium, the response from the viewers was similar in nature. At one point the youngsters in the audiance started blowing condoms and throwing them towards stage, throwing stones and bottles. The question arises, will the audience remain calm during Bryan Adams’ concert?

The Solution, at a High Price

It seems, the organizers are well aware of such events in previous concerts and are well prepared to tackle the problem. The first thing they did was keep the ticket price higher. Rs. 2000 is too big an amount to spoil by such childish acts. They also believe, the young people who bring the most trouble can’t afford the price either. But, some of the hardcore fans of Bryan Adams neither can stay at home on that evening nor can they afford the price. The organizer’s have a valid argument that, they can’t take any risk as anything gone wrong there will be tagged with the country, Nepal.

In addition to the higher price of the tickets, the organizers have also taken an extra measure in improving the security situation of the area.

Implication

It is a good thing, Nepali artists are popular among young people. But, they have yet to learn to behave whey they go to listen their favorite artists. Enjoyment and excitement are the key achievement in concerts but they should be contained within limit that others can also enjoy the show.

It is sad, maximum number of school and college students won’t be able to afford to go to the Bryan Adams concert due to its high price. Some have even taken it as an indirect insult.

• The audience and the singers should respect each others.
• The organizers should trust the audience and provide enough security such that the people with bad intentions could be identified and isolated.
• High price might work for Bryan Adams, it won’t work again for any other concert. So, the organizers should come up with some creative ideas to deal with the situation.

We hope, the audience will behave well and will not let Nepal down in the international concert.